2012 Presidential

How vile is Mike Papantonio?  For the second time in three days the trial lawyer-cum-radio host has actually made Ed Schultz look relatively reasonable. Interviewed by Schultz on his MSNBC show this evening, Papantonio claimed that the Koch brothers had "purchased" Herman Cain in order to be able to "kill more people" with toxins.  Video after the jump.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, Emerson warned. Is it too much to expect in the same sentence? Appearing on Ed Schultz's radio show Wednesday to weigh in on the allegations against Herman Cain, veteran Democratic strategist Bob Shrum had this to say (audio) --

On Friday's Morning Edition, NPR's Joel Rose played up the apparently "ominous" finding that voting-age adults 30 and younger aren't as "enamored of Mr. Obama as they used to be." Rose obtained sound bites from the President's supporters, but didn't play any from opponents. He also expressed liberal hopes when he stated that "there's still time for [them] to rediscover the excitement they felt…

Since Monday, MSNBC has practically been a 24 hour video loop of sexual harassment related attacks on Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. On Friday's Martin Bashir show, guest Goldie Taylor actually said, "If Herman Cain did what he purportedly did, you know, back in the ’90s with these particular young women in the ’50s and ’60s in this country, he really would have been lynched…

When it comes to sex, the media apply different standards to Republicans and Democrats. Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton allegedly trolled for women, using state troopers as his procurers. As president, Clinton engaged in oral sex with Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office. He lied about it under oath and was impeached, though later acquitted by the U.S. Senate. Other sexual accusations tainted…

The unrelenting network coverage of the Herman Cain sexual harassment story continued on Thursday and Friday with an additional 13 stories. That brings the total number of reports to a staggering 63 stories in just four and a half days. Good Morning America offered up three stories on Friday, including a Brian Ross report tinged with anonymous allegations and rumor-mongering. Ross speculated…

Did MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell ignore President Obama's previous calls for civility? The late-night host, in a five-minute Thursday night tirade, called for violence by specifically telling Occupy D.C. protesters to bring a "firestorm" to the National Restaurant Association (NRA) headquarters nearby, as well as to the NRA's corporate sponsors which include Starbucks and 7-11. O'Donnell…

In an interview with Michele Bachmann on Friday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer's first four questions pushed Bachmann to comment on the Herman Cain controversy: "As the only woman in this race, I just would like your perspective on all this....Do you think you are hearing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth from Herman Cain?" Bachmann repeatedly told Lauer: "I don't have…

Schlockumentary filmmaker Michael Moore said Thursday that the violence occurring at various Occupy events including Oakland is likely being incited by Department of Homeland Security officials or cops. Such was disgracefully uttered on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show (videos follow with transcript, vulgarity warning in Oakland riot footage):

With a number of GOP presidential contenders hitting snags on the campaign trail, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is being pushed to take more conservative positions than his once more moderate ideas. After having been attacked repeatedly from the right for Romneycare, Romney might be shifting to a more conservative stance on healthcare. Will taking more conservative views help Romney?…

"With Herman Cain, let's remember here, Sean, we have nobody on the record, we have no specific allegation of anything that's happened," NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell noted on last night's Hannity, contrasting the "avalanche" of Cain coverage with the minimal coverage the networks gave to Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, and Juanita Broaddrick's allegations of sexual harassment and, in the…

The unrelenting attacks on Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain continued unabated Friday on MSNBC's Morning Joe. When Mika Brzezinski addressed the ongoing scandal and Cain's frontrunner status, Joe Scarborough repeatedly said, "Blech," "Yuck" and "Jeez" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

It's truly delicious when the outfit which calls itself the Essential Global News Network essentially admits that a certain economic theory which begins with a "K" has become such an undesirable word -- almost an epithet -- that it avoids its mention. That was the case with a pathetic critique of GOP candidates' economic plans written up by the wire service's Charles Babington on Sunday. When…

Rachel Maddow's "devotion" to the facts "borders on obsessive" proclaimed an MSNBC promo last winter that could have been produced by The Onion. A dubious Maddow claim that didn't quite reach that level of obsession has caught the attention of PolitiFact Texas, part of a fact-checking project that originated with the St. Petersburg Times and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009. (video after page…